Apparatus for percolating coffee



y 1, 1952 F. c. JOHNSON 2,601,821

APPARATUS FOR PERCOLATING COFFEE Filed Dec. 27, 1948 6 Inventor zcazIfCkZY/Zzzso Attorney Patented July 1, 1952 nApplicationDecemher 27*, 19485SerialvNo; 611,337 :ImGreah-Britain January, 13;, 19418 2 Gl'aims. 11

LZIhis inventionriel'atesita apparatus for, percoiglating cdifeemaiidflhas forl'its primary. objectlfthe provision. of a coffee percolatingrapparatus, 1min ..Which the rate,of..flow .01 .water percolating lthrongh, ground. cofieei contained therein can be regulated to. controllthe;degreesof, extractionv of "the cfi'fiee, thus rendering 'the percolatingapParatus, economical inuse.

iAI. iufthenfobj ect ofnthelinvention .is'. to; provide an, apparatus? for, percolating, coffee, which pisv Vsiniple'sin; construc'tiomlis Tcheap', .to'imanufac- 1'. ture,..and which can be readily assembled-"and again dismantled after use for the purpose of cleansing, storage, etc.

According to the invention, therenis provided an apparatus for;"percolatingucofiee, comprising two co-axial sieve members-relatively adjustable in' an axial direction so ,as. .to regulateiithe. space "'betweentthem: and thereby vary. the rate, or .percola'tion through,;groundi coffee when"'di, sposed in the aforesaid" space.

i 'urthen according, to" the: invention? there is provided apparatus ion-percolating coffee comprising a lowerzcontaimr having; a. sieve" memberand" adapted toreceivegrouridncdflee; an 111 per container fofinse'r'tionfinto the? lower con- 't'ainer, s and a second "sieve fimember associated the saidupper container for positive moveirment in' relation to" thersaid firstgsieve member "-for'-' the purpose of=- varying pressure 'BXeI'td by the' said second sieve member on ground: cdii'ee contained int the. said-lower container.

"In" a-preferredform'phembddiment of the'in- "vention thetwo containers are cylindrical in form; the "first" 'si'eve memberbeing, integral with th lower=-'container" and the second "sieve mem- ":ben=integral 'with-the upper cont'ainerxsaid"up- -'per container b'eing externally threaded to engage 'internal' threads onthe 'lower' container, so Fth'at? the:space"-between' the sieve members can be varied by axial -adjustment or the" containers. 5 with such arrangement, when liquid coffee is being preparedin the *percolator, "the requisite #amount otground coffee is placed in the lower :vcontainer, whereupon the -upper container is rrscrewed into th'e lower container to effect the "desired pressure on' the 'g-round coii'eep" and boilthen introduced*into theupper container. It will' be'bb'vious that 11" the water per- -colates through the ground" coffee too quickly, a tightehingbf-"the upper container in'ithe lower container by means or :the' corresponding threads zwill bring about;a greateridegree of compression of .theigroundi cofiee'flby reason ,ofrthei increased pressure of the upper 'sievemember against the 45. immovable on the container I.

(Cli 99316) 72 t surfacathereoflrwitha consequent slowingldown of the rate of percolation. "Cnvers'ely; if the .rate oi percolation is. too slow, orif ,a weakerlextraction of ,coffee' :is desired, L the ,pressure on; the

ground .cojffeeecan. be relieved by unscrewing'f'the supper container, andthe water will then'be. able "to percolatemore" freely. 'A' heat-,insulatedltop .sis,.preferably,provided; in association with [the upper container, to. permit manipulation. ofi'the apparatus afteritheintroduction of boiling Water.

"Thealiquiducdtfeei is, received'in a receptacle into the neck of which. the lower container'lis arrangedto'fit means beingprovided to prevent the. lower, container '.from' turning in 1 the neck of. the. receptacle, to'facilitatel the relativeadjustmentlbetween' theuppertand lower contain- .ers.

In order, thatthe invention may be clearly understood one embodiment" thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawinglin which:

"Figurel is a perspective view of theiupper container of the percolating apparatua partly brokenaway' to provide a view of the interior,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the lower'container, also partly broken awayyand Figure 3 is a perspective view of the upper and lower containers applied to a receptacle for receiving liquid coffee, this 'view also beingrp'ar- 301tiallybroken' away to show the'r'elative dispositionof the parts.

Referring to'thedrawing, the percolating apparatus'comprises' an upper cylindrical container .1. whichispreferably composed oi'metal, and a lower cylindrical container 2, also preferably composed of'metal. The container I; into which boiling water isintroduced,'"as described; below, when liquid coffee is being prepared, is furnished with a heat-insulated top 3to permit of manip- 40 ,ulation of the apparatus when in use, and a. sieve memberd integraltherewith to constituteithe bottom thereof; and through which the hot water passes into the lower container 2. The top. 3 is secured in any'iconvenient manner so as to be At the end fur- ,nished withthe sieve. member 4 the container 1 ;possesses external threads 5.

The lower container 2, which is adapted to re- Mceivegroundcoffeais also furnished with a sieve member 6, integral therewith and constituting the bottomthereoflwhich sieve membersupports lithe ground. co'ifee when introduced' into .theucontainerr 2. ".The container 2 is also fur- ,nished with internalithreads 1 adapted. for engagement with the threads 5 on the container I.

metal, porcelain, earthenware or any other suitable material, is furnished with a cylindrical neck 9, the depth of which is approximately equal to that of the container 2, and into which the container 2 can be snugly fitted. The neck 9 of the receptacle 8 possesses at a suitable point of its upper marginal portion a pouring lip or spout I9, and at a suitable point a projection or lip II is provided on the container 2 so that, when the container 2 is inserted into the neck 9 of the receptacle 8, the li II nests snugly within the lip or spout Is. This arrangement serves the dual purpose of preventing the container 2 from falling into the receptacle 8 when fitted in the neck 9 thereof, and also of preventing the container 2 from turning within the neck 9 when the two containers I and 2 are screwed or unscrewed. Naturally other means may also be provided to achieve the same object, but the arrangement shown has been found to be particularly convenient, inasmuch as it utilises for 7 its purpose the lip or spout which will be provided in any case to enable the liquid coffee to be poured conveniently out of the receptacle 8.

The useful volume of the receptacle 8, that is to say, the capacity of the body of the receptacle ignoring that proportion thereof which is taken up by the container 2, will be at least equal to, and preferably slightly greater than the total volume of the container l.

The operation or" the percolating apparatus is as follows:

Ground coffee in the desired quantity is placed in the container 2, to rest on the sieve member 6, and the container I is thereupon screwed into the container 2 so as to cause the sieve member Kl to bear against the ground coffee with the desired degree of pressure. The two containers I and 2 are then fitted as a unit inthe receptacle 8, the top 3 is removed, and boiling water is poured into the container I, whereupon the top 3 can be replaced. The water, passing through the perforations of the sieve member 4, percolates through the ground coffee disposed between the two members 3 and G, and the liquid cofiee passes through the perforations in the sieve member 6 into the receptacle 8. It will be obvious that the greater the degree of compression of the ground coifee between the two sieve members 4, and 6, the more slowly will the water percolate through the ground coffee, and the greater therefore, will be the degree of extraction of the coffee.

If the rate of percolation is too slow, it can be increased by unscrewing the container I to the necessary extent in the container 2, in which connection the latter will be firmly held against rotation by the lip or projection II nesting in the lip or spout Iii. Conversely, if the rate of percolation is too rapid, it can be retarded by tainer 2 when the latter is disposed in the neck 9. Or if desired, provided the requisite degree of pressure is applied to the ground coffee between the two sieve members 4 and 8 beforehand, the two containers can be used in conjunction with any desired receptacle for reception of the liquid coffee, being merely allowed to rest thereon until the water has percolated through.

When the liquid coffee has been prepared, that is to say, when the water has passed through from the container I to the receptacle 8, the two containers I and 2 can be removed as a unit, and the liquid coffee is then ready for serving and the top of the receptacle 8 can be closed by a lid.

It will be understood that many modifications may be made to the construction illustrated in the drawing, thus for example in certain circumstances the two containers I and 2 may be replaced by one single container, and the one of the two sieve members can be made to be positively adjustable within the container in relation to the second sieve member. This may be accomplished by means of a threaded spindle, passing through a screw threaded bush in the container, one sieve member being rigidly secured to the spindle to be moved upwards or downwards within the container on rotation of the spindle.

Further, the means for preventing turning movement of the container within the neck of the receptacle may be effected by means other than the lips I0, I I described above, for example a bayonet connection may be employed for this purpose.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for percolating coffee, a lower cylindrical internally threaded container, a first sieve member integral with said lower container, an upper cylindrical container having an external thread for engaging with said threaded lower container, a second sieve member integral with said upper container and coaxial to said first sieve member, said two sieve members forming a space between them to receive ground coffee, a

' bottom receptacle to receive liquid percolating through said sieve members from said upper container and having a neck portion shaped to correspond to the outer contour of said lower container to receive said lower container snugly therein, said space being positively regulatable by screwing or unscrewing said upper container within said lowercontainer by means of said threads to permit of variation in pressure of the said sieve members on ground coffee in the said space therebetween, and thus to regulate at will the rate of percolation of liquid through the said coffee into said bottom receptacle, and means to prevent rotation of the said lower container in said neck portion when screwing or unscrewing said upper container, whereby said space may be regulated during percolation.

2. In an apparatus for percolating coffee, a lower cylindrical internally threaded container, a first sieve member integral with said lower container, an upper cylindrical container having an external thread for engaging with said threaded lower container, a second sieve member integral with said upper container and coaxial to said first sieve member, said two sieve members forming a space between them to receive ground coffee, a bottom receptacle to receive liquid percolating through said sieve members from said upper container and having a neck portion shaped to correspond to the outer contour of said lower. container to receive said lower container 2,601,821 a 5 snugly therein, said space being positively regu- REFERENCES CITED latable by screwing or unscrewing Said upper The following references are of record in the tainer within said lower container by means of me f this patent: said threads, a pouring lip formed in said neck portion of said bottom receptacle, and a projec- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS tion on the upper marginal portion of said lower N b N me Date container adapted to fit snugly into said p r- 26,229 Gatchell Nov. 22, 1859 ing lip to prevent rotation of the said lower 0011- 537,961 Bechaux Apr. 23, 1895 tainer in said neck portion when screwing or 713,192 Aubry Nov. 11, 1902 unscrewing said upper container. 10 1,687,345 Meyer Oct. 9, 1928 FRANCOIS CECIL JOHNSO 1,769,729 wentorf July 1, 1930 

